I imagine there are other things you could fire from them. None of which would give the same performance, and all of which would cost more, perhaps a lot more.
But if think the gun grabbers give a hoot about that, or loss of state revenue, you are sadly mistaken. They'll just find something else to tax.
Waterfowl hunters faced a lead ban long ago. Bismuth, steel (that's out of course for you CAS guns), and other materials have been substituted. The higher cost is not that big a deal for waterfowlers, since no one actually expends all that much ammo when hunting... except maybe dove hunters. :) But guys shooting paper, steel or even pitch ("clay" targets), put lots and lots of rounds downrange, to the point where the cost of ammo is a significant portion of their total costs. But again, the gun grabbers don't care about "legitimate sporting purposes", no matter how much they bleat about it when trying to pull the wool over the sheeple's eyes.
You bet.
1) The weapon will last a lifetime so let's say a 1911 clone costs $30/year.
3) Annual range membership is about $200.
3) 100 rounds of Winchester white box 45ACP cost about $28 at WallyWorld.
So if you're off to the range just once per month you're spending over $500 per year on your hobby. Of that, well over half is the cost of ammo at retail. A little less than half if you reload.